Ageing North

Information on the Northern Health Science Alliance's programmes and resources on Healthy Ageing

The Northern Health Science Alliance supports its members across the North of England in developing programmes, partnerships and collaborative research and innovation bids to address the challenges of an ageing population through our Ageing North network.

The NHSA convenes the network, which meets quarterly, to consider bid opportunities, policy developments and to engage with other clusters around the healthy ageing and longevity agenda.

Healthy Ageing is a major strength for the North and this is particularly relevant internationally, with both of the Department for Business and Trade’s High Potential Opportunities (HPOs) in healthy ageing located in the North. The has a focus on diagnostics and early intervention for healthy ageing, while the HPO in Greater Manchester, Cheshire and Warrington has a focus on healthy ageing and longevity.

Through its longstanding relationship with Canadian organisations, the NHSA’s Healthy Ageing Network has been instrumental in bringing together a UK/Canada AgeTech Innovation Exchange in June 2023, funded by UKRI. Led by the NHSA, UK partners included the Department for Business and Trade and the four northern Health Innovation Networks (formerly Academic Health Science Networks) while Canadian partners included AGE-WELL and the Centre for Ageing and Brain Health Innovation (CABHI). The programme continues to showcase and mobilise the assets we have in healthy ageing across the North.

Ageing in the North report

A report from the Ageing North network shows that older people in the North of England are more likely to be poorer, less healthy, physically inactive, lonely and in poor housing – resulting in millions of pounds of avoidable NHS costs.

Researchers have catalogued an “alarming” range of disadvantages faced by older people living in the North, in areas such as health, life expectancy, housing, nutrition, employment, and social isolation.

The report was launched in June 2025 in Parliament, and features expertise from a wide range of disciplines, from biology to sociology, across Ageing North five University members.